Millennials Living At Home Aren’t Moochers, They’re Realists

This is what a lot of people assume millennials do with their time, which is pretty unfair.

Tell us if you’ve heard this before: A lot of millennials live at home with their parents.

At this point, it’s not really news anymore. However, the effects of millennials allegedly mooching off their folks is making some economists and real estate brokers pretty nervous.

When the economy first went down the poop chute and investors realized that few people in our generation would be able to afford to buy a home, they got an idea: We’ll invest in properties to rent out to millennials!

That worked for a little while, and rents rose while home ownerships plummeted. But now rents aren’t doing that great, either, because guess what? The more millennials graduate college, the more of us have student loan debt and the more of us are competing for the same relatively meager amount of jobs.

As a result, it’s difficult for most millennials to even afford renting, especially in metropolitan areas anywhere other than Camden, N.J. (and you probably don’t want to rent in Camden). It can reportedly take years for the housing market to return to normal because apparently the world thinks millennials are bums.

Blame is being pointed at joblessness and college debt, but Fortune points out that even those of us who work may have a hard time leaving the nest. Why? Wages aren’t great–and they’re stagnant to boot–making it difficult for a lot of millennials to get out of the red, let alone out of their dads’ basements.

It’s also worth noting that millennials tend to marry later, thus holding off on buying homes until may are well out of the 18-34 range.

But can people please stop referring to millennials as moochers? It’s much more fiscally sound–not just for themselves, but for the economy as a whole, especially after a housing bubble–for them not to spend money that they don’t have just so a few men in suits won’t think they’re jerks. Let’s not forget: Extending mortgages to people who couldn’t possibly afford them is part of why the economy is such a mess to begin with. Don’t get angry at millennials for attempting to break the cycle.